


lover of the light

by poppyharris



Series: honey, honey, how he thrills me [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Nursing, Psychological Trauma, Wizarding Wars, battle of the seven potters, i'm holey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24883444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyharris/pseuds/poppyharris
Summary: tonah hasn't spoken in a year, but george losing an ear causes a reaction.
Relationships: George Weasley/Original Female Character(s)
Series: honey, honey, how he thrills me [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025505
Kudos: 14





	lover of the light

harry was leant against the back door, his back to the kitchen. he'd tried to speak to tonah, but her wide eyed stare reminded him far too much of meeting neville's parents. she'd close her eyes every so often, but not enough for harry not to be put on edge. molly had sighed, but not said anything. hagrid had tried to crack a few jokes, tell a few stories, but tonah hadn't cracked a smile. 

"george should be arriving soon, tonah, don't worry," molly tried to give her a comforting smile, but didn't try and touch her. when tonah didn't respond, molly sighed and got up, going across to harry.

"what's wrong with her?" harry whispered, one eye on the front garden, the other on molly. she smiled warmly at harry, but couldn't hide the sadness behind it. 

"well, after what happened the night dumbledore..," molly trailed off, looking to the side. "well, while you were keeping the death eaters busy, tonah was at george and fred's shop, and as she was locking up, avery attacked her. she managed to escape, but not before he managed to cast confringo." molly shuddered, taking a deep breath. "george found her in his room, bleeding all over his bed. she hasn't spoken since."

"how d'you know what happened?" harry asked, finally looking molly in the face, and desperately tried to stop staring at the clock behind her. 

"george coaxed it out of her," molly smiled, looking over her shoulder at tonah, who was anxiously rocking back and forth as the time for george's arrival came closer. 

"are they still getting married?" harry cracked the first smile since he'd set off with hagrid, wondering what a weasley twin wedding would look like. molly laughed, almost hoarsely. laughing was a rarity in the current world. 

"they are, although it's hard to get tonah interested in anything that isn't clinging to george and shaking," molly sighed, opening her mouth, before a crash from outside caused molly to utter a quiet scream. "it's george and remus!"

tonah looked up at the crash, and before harry could react, she was out of the door. "shit- tonah! wait up!" harry ran after her and towards lupin, who was currently trying to pull george to his feet. tonah was still running, barefoot, through the swampy ground outside, until she staggered back, her hands over her mouth. harry furrowed his eyebrows, before seeing lupin finally bring george to his feet. 

there was blood. a lot of blood. george had a dopey smile on his face, probably because tonah had thrown her arms around him, but he was missing an ear. a black hole, albeit a bit red, was on the left side of his head. 

"help me get him in, harry," lupin barked at harry, his face streaked with splatters of blood from supporting george. tonah took a step back from george and ran back in the direction of the house. harry nodded, taking george's other arm and putting it over his shoulder. they began walking in the direction of the house, molly coming out to greet them. "molly! aren't you a sight for sore eyes," lupin tried to laugh, but dropped his smile when molly gasped, shaking her head and waving her wand to keep the door open.

harry and lupin dropped george onto the sofa, and tonah dropped to her knees by his side, her head resting on george's still hand. molly was rattling around in her bag of things, grabbing out a bottle of dittany, and then quickly leaning over george and trying to tap a few drops out of dittany. the liquid fizzled out the moment it came into contact with george's ear. molly's eyes widened, and with a sniffle, she dropped the bottle onto the floor, and crouched by the end of the sofa, staring at the empty hole.

harry felt like he was imposing on a family that wasn't his. he didn't want to comfort mrs weasley, because he knew, deep deep down, it was his fault. he was about to turn, and run into the garden and just scream, but halfway to the door, on a silky smooth thestral, hermione and kingsley landed with a small bump of a landing.

"harry! are we the first back?!" hermione called out to him, slipping off the thestral she couldn't see, and running towards him, her arms out in a hug. harry warily smiled, wrapping his arms around her. 

"george and lupin got back first, but george's..." harry leaned out of the hug, looking over at kingsley. "george is injured, they knew we were coming." kingsley didn't react, staying sodical, but hurried in the direction of the house anyway. hermione looked up at the sky, furrowing her eyebrows. "fred and arthur were supposed to be back before us, is tonah here, or at diagon alley?"

harry took a step back, following hermione's eyes up at the sky. "she's here, and in a bad way."

hermione sighed, holding her arms close to her chest. "i knew she was attacked pretty bad, but i didn't believe fred when he said she wasn't speaking." harry sighed, the overwhelming sense of guilt worming into his head again.

"it's been a yea-" harry was cut off again, a comet 260 streaking down, before screeching to a halt. fred, both ears intact, and arthur, pale and shivering, clambered off the broom, desperately looking to harry. "george's inside."

arthur didn't ask, but the ruddiness from fred's cheeks immediately left him, and he bolted into the burrow, almost as fast as tonah had come out. harry wiped his nose on the back of his hand, and walked after fred, letting arthur go ahead. 

tonah was silent still, but her eyes were open, and george seemed to recognise his twin's gait. fred dropped down beside tonah, and she sniffled, causing george's eyes to open slowly. "how do you feel, georgie?" mrs weasley whispered, a hand gently resting on george's shin.

"saintlike," george whispered, his right hand flexing to thread his fingers into tonah's hair. she sniffled, and raised her head, staring up at him. fred furrowed his eyebrows, looking over at his parents, who were gripping the sofa tightly.

"what's wrong with him? is his mind affected?" fred's eyes were wide, clearly fearful for his twin's sanity. george tilted his head back, so it was propped up by the arm.

"saintlike," he croaked, a small smile appearing on his face. "i'm holey, geddit?"

silence settled over the entire group, and then.

"holey!" 

giggles erupted from tonah, her hands going up to over her mouth, and george stared in absolute joy at the giggling girl. harry gaped, noticing how she simply couldn't stop. between breaths, she'd whisper "holey" like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. tonah's giggles finally died down, and fred began to chuckle slapping his forehead. 

"pathetic. pathetic! with the whole wide world of ear-related humour before you, you go for holey?" fred started laughing properly, which caused tonah to start back up again. the laugher was so loud, no one noticed fleur and bill walking in, looking extremely solemn. harry stared at them, as fleur put her head in her hand. 

"mad-eye's dead."

molly gasped, tears forming in her eyes. tonah's smile suddenly disappeared, and she put her head back onto george's hand, who gently rubbed his thumb over her cheek. "did you see... did you see it happen?" tonah whispered, looking up at bill. he nodded, and a silence settled over the group again. a loud squeal shattered the silence, followed by "bloody hell!" loudly from the garden.

harry took a deep breath, not realising how tense he'd been. his heart was tight, and every breath he drew seemed to be like inhaling water. mad-eye was dead. george had lost an ear. ron and tonks hurried in, and harry barely heard them. lupin's face lit up, and they hugged tightly, but no words were spoken. harry hated this. hated how all this was because of him. 

he turned in the direction of the stairs, but was stopped by ron's hand on his shoulder. "you alright mate?" ron asked, his eyebrows furrowed. harry smiled slightly, and nodded. 

"yeah, i... i just feel," harry didn't know what to say. he didn't know how he felt. he felt terrible. like he hadn't slept in weeks. he breathed in slowly, letting his lungs fill. "i feel like shit, ron. d'you know where i'm sleeping?"

ron smiled sympathetically, looking over his shoulder. "mum, what's happening about sleeping?" molly turned and smiled, her face still red from crying. she looked down at her sons, and then at tonah, who was gently daubing at george's face with a wet towel, smoothing his hair whenever she accidentally pressed too hard into the wound.  
"tonah and george were meant to be sharing george's bed, but i think they'll be fine down here, if you want to rest," molly smiled at harry, finally standing up and waving her wand to cleanse herself of blood. george groaned, but received a towel slap from tonah, who rolled her eyes at him. hermione sniffed, which caused the mood to drop, again.   
harry sighed, completely turning away from the group. this was all his fault, and it was going to be difficult for him to move past it. part of his brain started to whisper that this was all his fault, that he was going to come down in the morning, and everyone would've abandoned him. ron seemed to sense this, and gave his mate a rub on the back.   
  
lupin's eyes followed him as far as the first landing, when harry turned around and smiled at the grizzled man, the lines around his eyes far too numerous for thirty-something. tonks had her head on his shoulder, and had her eyes closed. mad-eye was her mentor, harry'd completely forgotten. how many others was this going to hurt? how many more were going down to lay down their lives in the name of harry? 

  
tonks sighed, tugging lupin's coat, and molly gave them a look. "i'll release the spell as far as the corn fields, just head out until you get to errol's feather, then you can apparate from there." tonks smiled gratefully, rubbing her eyes.  
"thanks molly, and harry-?" tonks looked over at the stairs, where harry was gripping the bannister. "stay safe."

  
harry felt something in his chest break. that shouldn't be something that had to be said to another person, but this was a strange time. he gave her a weak smile, and walked up the stairs.  
  


* * *

  
the 30th was a slow haze. tonah had taken harry's dress robes with a warm smile, and a promise she'd darn any holes and return them perfect for fleur and bill's wedding. it was strange to harry to hear her voice again, but the beaming smile that appeared on george's face whenever she did was simply too good to not see.   
ginny and hermione were gathered closely, discussing dresses for the wedding. "i'm so jealous you're a bridesmaid, i love fleur's style," hermione was laughing, gripping a cup of blackberry juice in her hands.

  
"phlegm might be annoying, but i agree, her clothes are just amazing," ginny nodded, before she caught harry's eye staring at her from the kitchen. she opened her mouth, but turned a delicate shade of pink and quickly looked away.

* * *

  
"mazel tov!" 

  
tonah dumped a largeish box on the empty space where harry had just moved his hand from. george rolled his eyes, shoving his wand back into his back pocket. "you should've let me carry it, tones," george rolled his eyes, sitting next between tonah and fred. 

  
harry stared at the box warily, unsure if he trusted a box from george, but then realised tonah wrapped it, judging by the carefully tied bow.

charlie began laughing, quickly covering his mouth when tonah gave him a dirty look. "is this going to explode?" harry asked nervously, looking between charlie and george, both of whom were attempting to hide their laughter.  
  
"just open it, if it explodes, then aim it at ron," tonah giggled, before pushing it closer to harry. "go on!"  
harry pulled the bow a little, letting it come undone. after not being drenched in rancid milk, or custard, he opened the lid, and saw the most beautiful snowglobe he'd ever seen.

harry cautiously lifted it out, looking on the underneath to make sure he hadn't damaged it, before inspecting it closely. it looked like the clearing of a forest, currently dusted with a small amount of snow. he held it to his ear, and heard the sound of a hare bounding across the small scene.

  
harry didn't realise the size of his grin before catching sight of himself in the window behind tonah, who was smiling just as widely. "it'll change seasons depending on the month, i messed it up though, it's reversed," tonah explained, leaning out of the way so molly could add the box to the pile. 

george shook his head, throwing an arm around tonah. “she’s such a dab hand at charms,” he rested his head on her shoulder. 

“what was so funny then?” ron asked, eyeing up his brothers suspiciously.

charlie took out his wand, and tapped the top of the snowglobe. the scene shifted, and became the top of a volcano, and a miniature welsh green dragon stood proudly atop it, fire spouting from it’s nostrils every so often.

harry gaped, leaning back on his chair and staring at his friends.

”i love magic.”

**Author's Note:**

> song: lover of the light by mumford and sons


End file.
